United States prosecutors and federal law enforcement spent over a year examining ties between Jeffrey Epstein and Customs and Border Protection officers stationed in the US Virgin Islands (USVI), according to documents recently released by the Department of Justice.
As The Guardian and New York Times have reported, emails, text messages, and investigative records show that Epstein cultivated friendships with several officers, entertaining them on his island and offering to take them for whale-watching trips in his helicopter. He even brought one cannolis for Christmas Eve. In turn, Epstein would bring certain officers his complaints about his treatment at the hands of other CBP and federal agents. Most of the interactions described in the records occurred years after Epstein pleaded guilty to charges of sex crimes in Florida in 2008.
The CBP officers were never charged for any crimes related to Epstein, and at least one later retired from the agency with a pension, suggesting that the government ultimately didn’t find any wrongdoing. The documents do, though, describe patterns of behavior—two of the officers referred to Epstein as a “friend”—that one government ethics expert described as inappropriate and possible violations of federal guidance. They also contain grand jury subpoenas that specifically name the officers and compel the recipients, which were largely financial services firms, to aid federal prosecutors who were looking into allegations of a conspiracy to defraud the US government.
Emails in 2015 and 2016 show that Epstein would have another officer, Glen Samuel, come to Little Saint James to perform steel pan drums—a side gig Samuel informally advertised at one point on his Facebook page. In a January 2015 email thread, Epstein asked an associate to clarify Samuel’s rate. The associate replied, “Mr. Samuel says he does not intend to charge you. He considers you a friend and was doing this for you. If you wish to give him something, he is appreciative, but there is no fee.” Samuel did not respond to a request for comment.
I already posted the Guardian article, but they didn’t include the name of the agent who played steel drums for Epstein or the part about him insisting he perform as a favor to a friend.
Even though this whole things is so far beyond the realm of bizarro world, for some reason reading about the steel pan CBP agent performing on pedo Island was especially salient in a “how the fuck is this reality?!?” kind of way.
Anyway, I think I might have found an album he made for sale on eBay.
